Often, at restaurants or other locations such as a consumer's residence, a beverage may be created on-demand from a mixture of ingredients. An advantage of dispensing beverage in this form is that the concentrate containers and water supply typically occupy significant less space than is otherwise required to store the same volume of beverage in individual containers. Moreover, this dispensing equipment likewise eliminates increased waste formed by the empty individual containers.
A typical beverage dispenser may include a pump to force an ingredient, such as a concentrate, to the head. The dispenser may include valves that may attempt to volumetrically measure then dispense certain ingredients. For example, a valve may be selectively opened in response to a consumer requesting a beverage to allow the simultaneous discharge of concentrate and water. The two liquids mix upon discharge and in the container to form the desired beverage. Moreover, some beverages are formed from base components that may be vastly different from the components forming other beverages. Often, these beverages cannot be accurately and efficiently dispensed from a dispenser given the problems with measuring and dispensing ingredients with different properties.
Similarly, in certain implementations, different beverages are formed from concentrates that are only slightly different from each other. For example, customers are often interested in enjoying beverages that, in addition to a base flavor, include a supplemental flavor, such as cherry or lemon-lime. Yet consumers are increasingly interested in adjusting one or more ingredients in their beverages, such as the amount of sugars, often in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Improved systems and methods relating to the dispensing of beverages would be desirable.